If you want to understand China take the train -- as the Chinese do, as Paul Theroux did -- in every province of the People's Republic, from the searing Gobi of western Xinjiang to the frozen wastes of Manchuria. The result is the most beguiling and revealing portrait of China since Marco Polo.

In RIDING THE IRON ROOSTER, Theroux's practiced eye, adventurous spirit and rich prose produce a vivid memoir, full of people and talk -- war, outspoken conversations about the private life of China today, the Cultural Revolution and Mao, about writing novels, growing fruit, and the details of everyday life; about discontent, patriotism and the possibility of a better life in America.